Summer Re-Release And What To Notice

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Welcome to Roots of the Rise with me, Sarah Hope. Before we dive in, a quick note. As you may already know, Roots of the Rise is taking a summer sabbatical and will return in September with brand new episodes. Throughout the summer, I will be re-releasing some of the most impactful and requested episodes from the archive, the ones that sparked conversation, resonated deeply, and made a lasting difference for listeners. I have chosen this season intentionally. Sometimes growth isn't about consuming more information. Sometimes it's about revisiting what we've already learned and allowing it to sink in more deeply. As part of this summer series, I will also be revisiting each episode myself, sharing a few updated thoughts or insights at the beginning and creating new companion resources for my Patreon members, including reflective prompts, worksheets, contemplations, whatever tool feels most appropriate to help you take these ideas further. As you listen, notice what stands out to you this time around, what lands differently, what feels especially relevant to where you are today. The most powerful lesson is often not the one we hear for the first time, but the one we are finally ready to receive.

Heart-Based Meditation Plus Heart Centering

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Now, today we are diving into one of my most treasured and favorite topics, which is heart-based meditation. When I originally recorded this episode, it was one of my first, I had already been practicing heart-based meditation for years. Now, with even more time and experience behind me, there's one thing I wish I had emphasized more clearly. The profound benefits I have experienced have not come from the meditation practice alone. They've come from the combination of the meditation practice and the associated integration practice known as heart centering. This is one of the things that really sets heart-based meditation aside. It is not just about giving you something you do sitting in silence with your eyes closed. It's about giving you something to take into your day-to-day. The meditation practice, it helps create shifts internally. It helps settle the nervous system, uncover patterns, cultivate greater peace and clarity and self-awareness. But heart-centering is what allows you to bring those qualities into everyday life. It is the bridge between what happens during meditation and how you show up in your relationships, your work, your parenting, your challenges. Of all the classes I've taken, the tools I have learned, this combination has been one of the most transformative practices I have ever encountered. It has helped me navigate grief, anxiety, overwhelm, incredibly difficult relationships, major life transitions, not to mention, you know, all the little everyday stressors with far more resilience and peace than I would have otherwise. If you have ever tried meditation before and wondered, why isn't this changing my life? The missing piece may not have been about the meditation practice itself. It may have been the lack of a practical way to integrate what you were developing during the meditation practice into the rest of your day. This is why I am especially excited about the companion resources I've created for members. I will be sharing both a guided audio that is an introduction to heart centering, where I explain the practice more thoroughly, as well as a guided beginner heart centering contemplation. This is the same practice I began with years ago, and I use a modified version which I explain in the introduction regularly. It's still my go-to. And I continue to gain insight and guidance and clarity and peace all these years later.

Common Questions About Results And Time

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I also thought I would take this opportunity to answer a few of the most common questions I get about meditation. One of the biggest is how quickly will I notice a difference? And the honest answer is that it depends. Some people notice changes within days. For others, it takes a few weeks. There are two major variables. One is the type of meditation you are practicing. They don't all do the same thing. Some practices are better for in-the-moment stress relief, but don't do a lot of creating greater awareness. Others are really good at helping you develop mindfulness, but aren't so good about helping you change the patterns you're noticing. The other big variable, consistency. There is a big difference between meditating every day and meditating once a month. The changes, too, sometimes we don't see them. They don't always show up where you expect them to. Some people don't notice an immediate emotional shift, but suddenly they're sleeping better. Someone else might begin meditating because they want more patience and instead realize they are no longer getting as upset when plans change unexpectedly. The benefits often arrive before we really recognize them. Another common question is okay, how much do I need to meditate? You know, do I need to sit down for an hour every day to see a change? Short answer, no. In my experience with heart-based meditation specifically, I'll speak just to that practice, 15 to 20 minutes practiced consistently is far more beneficial than an hour practiced occasionally. And then what I hear all the time is I've tried meditating before, I'm just bad at it. Usually, what people mean is I keep thinking. Now, I can't speak for every meditation method because, like I've mentioned, they all have different guidelines and goals. What I can tell you is that in heart-based meditation, thoughts are expected and welcomed as part of the process. They are not evidence that you are failing. In fact, understanding your relationship with your thoughts becomes part of the learning. And lastly, I just want to say a little more about the heart centering practice I'll be sharing with members. Again, just to emphasize that it's not just for when you're sitting down to meditate as a preparatory tool to help you settle into the meditation practice. It is for everyday moments. It's for difficult conversations, stressful decisions, emotional triggers, uncertainty, overwhelm, parenting challenges, work stress, you know, those moments when you want access to your deeper wisdom instead of your immediate reaction. Because when you are in the middle of life, it is usually not the moment for eyes closed meditation. You're having a difficult conversation with someone, it's a rare dynamic that you can say, uh, we need to pause so that I can go meditate for 20 minutes and then I can come back and we can resume this, right? That's just not realistic. What we need is a tool we can access immediately, something that helps you regulate rather than escalate. Not to be a broken record, but I've been practicing heart-based meditation for over 10 years. By the time this episode airs, I'll be one month away from four consecutive years of meditating with this method every single day. That doesn't mean I don't use other tools. I do. Doesn't mean I think other meditation practices aren't worthwhile. I explore them regularly. They are supplemental. This is my ride or die practice because after more than a decade, I'm still noticing benefits. I'm still gaining insight, still having shifts in awareness, still growing, still learning, still looking forward to sitting down and meditating every day. And it's not that I don't have hard days. I do. It's not that I don't experience stress, self-doubt, grief, frustration, or moments where I feel like I'm getting it wrong. I've been pretty transparent about those experiences on this podcast. The difference is that they don't tend to last as long. I recover more quickly, I pivot more easily, I'm better able to stay loving while maintaining boundaries. I'm more discerning in my choices, I'm less reactive and more intentional. And that's not because I'm quote unquote great at meditation. The goal isn't to become good at meditation. The goal is to become the best version of myself possible. The goal is to become more grounded, more peaceful, resilient, and heart-centered while living life. If your current practice is helping you do that, wonderful. Wonderful. I'm so happy for you. But if it isn't, maybe it's worth exploring something different. For now, enjoy this re-release and learn a little more about heart-based meditation.

Why Heart-Based Meditation Stands Out

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Hello everyone. I am excited to talk to you about heart-based meditation today. So, first, we should acknowledge that there are thousands of different types of meditation, all with valid benefits and purpose. There's a misconception, though, that they all do essentially the same thing, that they have basically the same rules and yield the same results. And this just isn't true. Different forms of meditation have different guidelines and they have different benefits too. Mindfulness practices and controlled focus techniques actually activate different parts of the brain. Both are worthy, worthwhile methods, both are useful, but truly different. I'm sure we're going to talk about all of that in the future, but today I really wanted to focus on heart-based meditation. I have dabbled in many different forms of meditation in the last decade since I began kind of investigating it as a tool. But heart-based meditation is the only method I'm truly consistent with because it's the only one I have personally found that continues to help with tangible benefits even after more than a decade of practice. And this has a lot to do with the fact that when you learn heart-based meditation, you actually learn two techniques. There's the actual meditation practice itself, and then an integration technique that helps you deeply integrate the gains and shifts made via the meditation practice. And this really sets heart-based meditation apart from other modalities, this learning of two techniques that make a whole practice. And I really credit that with why it's been so continuously beneficial for me personally.

Thoughts Are Welcome In Practice

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Another common misconception is that you need to clear your mind of all thoughts during meditation. And maybe that's why you've immediately dismissed meditation as being not good for you, or that you can't do it because there's no way you can do that. Or you've tried multiple other methods and find that you just can't quiet the mind. Good news, that's not a requirement with heart-based meditation. Here, thoughts are welcomed, allowed, and accepted as part of the practice. It's one of the things I really love about the training. You will learn all about the brain, the specific functions of the right and left hemispheres, and why thoughts are perfectly accepted and welcome in this form of meditation. Another great thing is that you don't need any prior experience in order to take the free heart-based meditation training. This training is offered on a donation basis only, because all of us who teach heart-based meditation feel that it's our calling, our responsibility, our dharma to help as many people as we possibly can. Life can be really hard. You know, there is so much going on in the world, especially right now, that is stressful and challenging and very unstable. And so many people are walking around with this struggle and fear and pain and trauma in their hearts and minds and bodies. We all need and deserve a tool to help us alleviate stress, to help us find a place of calm from which we can then approach all these difficult challenges that are always going to come our way. They never stop. So when we teach heart-based meditation, we feel we are doing our part to help people find a way to be more at peace with themselves and their circumstances. And that sense of peace, that sense of being okay, that is a quality that ripples and de-escalates. So often when I ask people what they've noticed has changed due to their heart-based meditation practice, their first answer is something along the lines of, I'm more peaceful. And when you dig a little deeper, that manifests often in that they are simply able to roll with things a little more easily. Another common comment is from parents who notice that if they meditate prior to having their children come home from school, they just feel like they're a better parent. I know I certainly agree with this. Uh, when I meditate before I pick my son up, I know that I am a better mom. I'm able to be more present, I'm happier, I have way more patience. And our whole afternoon ends up being just a smoother, happier time together. And this ability to be more at peace, less reactionary, that can be life-changing. Imagine if you were able to bring a deep sense of calm to an interaction with a family member who typically you have kind of explosive interactions with, you know, where it starts off okay and then you say something and then they react and then you react, and all of a sudden you're in the middle of a you know, full-blown explosion. What if instead they said the thing that they always say? And instead of you having that deep reactionary response, you were able to just let it roll off your back and not have it create any upheaval. This can be one of the benefits of having a consistent heart-based meditation practice. And I should pause and say that the word consistent is really important. You want to think about meditation the same way you think about going to the gym. If you go once a month, it's not that it's bad or not helpful, but is it actually going to give you any meaningful muscle gains? Probably not. You know, meditation is the same way. You have to be consistent in order for you to really reap the rewards.

Healing, Therapy, And Meditation Together

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You know, I'll tell you this: I had no real concept of meditation prior to my Ayurvedic practitioner training. If anything, I think I had that stereotypical notion of someone sitting in a cross-legged position, humming to themselves, clearing their mind of all thoughts, you know, very kind of standard, uninformed ideas about meditation. But I was required to meditate for 200 hours in order to graduate from my Ayurvedic training, which was one of those blessings in disguise situations. I don't know that I would have stuck with it if I hadn't been required to. You know, some forms of meditation, because they are so powerful and so effective, they can bring up a lot, they can stir the pot. You know, stress and trauma that's been stored in your body can be released, which isn't always a pleasant process. That's why, you know, there have been articles entitled The Dark Side of Meditation, which is a bit inflammatory for my taste, but also has a little bit of a kernel of truth to it. We can bring up things that are difficult when we begin to meditate, but with proper guidance and support, it can be a deeply healing process. These things are coming up in order for us to be able to heal them. I know without a doubt that it's the combination of heart-based meditation, Ayurvedic practices, and spiritual mentoring with Dr. Paul Douglas, the creator of heart-based meditation, who continues to be my mentor, that truly began my road to deep healing. I did a lot of therapy as a kid, teenager in college, but it was all traditional talk therapy psychology. And while it helped, and let me just say, I am not disparaging traditional psychology, therapy, psychotherapy, any of that. If you find the right practitioner, they can truly be life-saving. And it is such an important element for some people's healing. I'm just saying, from my personal experience, I always left feeling like I wasn't actually getting to the root of anything. Meditation is what opened the door for me.

Real-World Benefits And Emotional Resilience

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So, what really are the benefits of long-term meditation? Well, we can see a reduction in stress and anxiety. Uh, there can be improved mental clarity. Lots of people report better sleep and improved energy, uh, like we've already talked about. There can be fewer emotional triggers, which tends to lead to more harmonious relationships. I mean, most people first report just generally feeling more peace, generally feeling more grounded, more centered, more stable. But think again and consider the ripple effects of just that one thing. Like I said earlier, what if you had that sense of calm when you needed to do a big presentation for your boss? Or when your kid breaks an arm and is looking at you panicked. You know, one of my most important takeaways from all of my meditation training is that meditation is not necessarily about being calm and peaceful during the meditation. It's about being centered outside of meditation. Now, I'm not saying we don't all enjoy a great peaceful meditation. Who doesn't want to visit to Bliss Beach from time to time? Um, I love Yoga Nidra practices, for instance, which is a beautiful guided meditation process. However, in the grand scheme of things, I don't care if I am peaceful and relaxed and clear and focused while I'm meditating. I want to be calm and clear when I'm giving a presentation to 40 people about forgiveness. That's when I want the sense of being grounded and settled. And one of the things that's so special about heart-based meditation is that it's not just about the meditation practice when you close your eyes and sit in silence. It's about learning how to really integrate this sense of peace into your day-to-day. Now, sure, some of that will happen without any effort, but there are ways in which we can enhance the process that we can quicken that integration so that you have an even bigger sense of being grounded and settled and at peace and full of acceptance and joy. And that's one of the things that I really love about this form of

Training Support, Group Sessions, Retreats

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meditation. It's not just about learning this practice and then, you know, you're kicked out of the nest and good luck. There is so much support from day one. You don't get just a single day of training. It's set up so that you get three hour-long sessions three weeks in a row. And this is so important because of the experience you get to have in between training sessions. So important because what trips a lot of people up is that they think they're doing it wrong. They learn it, they go home, they start practicing by themselves, and then they have some experience and think, oh, I'm not getting this right, or they can't remember what to do if sounds are really disturbing them, and then they just give up. So that's why I love how when you learn heart-based meditation, you have this ability to learn a bit of it, go home, practice it for a week, see what happens, take notes, realize what you're confused about or what you didn't quite get in that first lesson, and then come back and share, ask questions, get clarity. And what's equally important is the continued support. Too often people go to a meditation workshop and then leave thinking they should now be set for life with their meditation practice. And this could not be further from the truth. Meditation is something that changes over time. Our experiences while meditating can be wildly different even on the same day, let alone from month to month. You know, your meditation on day one is going to be different, vastly different potentially, on day 100, especially if you're consistent, especially if you continue to come to classes and learn how to deepen your practice. There are so many ways to do that, so many ways to enhance your practice, as well as ease any discomfort or disturbances you may experience along the way. This is why Dr. Douglas offers an online group session on the second and fourth Sundays of every month where heart-based meditators can come together and meditate, followed by Dr. Douglas answering any questions you have about the practice, inner growth, healing, and ways of navigating the joys and the challenges of life. Furthermore, there are weekend meditation retreats every single month that are very low cost and that emphasize a certain facet of the heart. So one month you might be focusing on acceptance. The next might be gratitude. You might then investigate forgiveness. And these retreats allow you to not only deepen your meditation practice, but also investigate your relationship to these spiritual tenets. And you know, I say spiritual, but really these are just the basic aspects of life that we all wish we had more of. I don't know anyone who doesn't want more joy, or to be able to more fully accept a difficult situation, or to be able to finally forgive maybe themselves, maybe someone else. So these monthly retreats are a way for us to tap into who we want to be. And it's really nice to be able to ask questions about this process and to explore these topics in a safe and supportive community full of like-minded individuals who are also interested in becoming the best versions of themselves. You know, while it's entirely okay to learn a meditation method and then never revisit the learning, you will find so much more depth to your practice, speed to your growth, if you return periodically to ask questions and to listen to others talk about their experiences.

Take The Training And Reach Out

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I could go on and on about why I love heart-based meditation, but to quote LeVar Burton and Reading Rainbow, don't take my word for it. Take the training. Have your own experiences. I always encourage people to begin by taking the training with Dr. Paul. I will link below to his website so you can read more about heart-based meditation and sign up for the next training if you're so inclined. I do occasionally offer group trainings myself, but these days I'm just too busy and I've kind of shifted to do more one-on-one work. And honestly, why not learn from the originator of the method himself? So if you do take the training, I encourage you to consistently meditate with this method for a full month before you make any decisions about sticking with it or not. I am happy to answer any questions you may have about heart-based meditation or meditation in general. Just email me at roots of the rise at gmail.com. That is all for today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. And remember, know who you are, love who you've been, and be willing to do the work with you. Just a quick reminder this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. I am not a licensed therapist, and nothing shared here is meant to replace the guidance of a physician, therapist, or any other qualified provider. That said, I hope it inspires you to grow, heal, and seek the support you need to thrive.